Jermaine O'Neal
2006-07 Statistics
PPG 19.4
RPG 9.6
APG 2.4
SPG .72
BPG 2.64
FG% .436
FT% .767
3P% .000
MPG 35.6

Pau Gasol
2006-07 Statistics
PPG 20.8
RPG 9.8
APG 3.4
SPG .49
BPG 2.14
FG% .538
FT% .748
3P% .273
MPG 36.2

Surprisingly, Jermaine O'Neal has never been a 50% FG shooter.... You would expect your center to shoot at that clip or better. But defensively, even though Gasol avg 2+ blks, JO is a stronger presence in the paint and is far superior man to man. Post game is a toss up but Gasol has a better jumper.

Pau vs. Jermaine comparision

offense:

Pau by a landslide. He is better at everything, there is really nothing O´Neal can do nearly as well but maybe fade aways. I mean post game, mid-range game, passing, intelligence, FT shooting, simply everything goes to Gasol.
O´Neal can average 20+ as well but mostly because he shoots a lot PG-like efficiency which is horrible.

defense:

Jermaine is a better shotblocker and has a better timing, quicker on rotations makes him the better team defender as well...they are about the same rebounders but Jermaine has better quickness and athleticism to man up and rotate to help out.

all in all Gasol is not as fun to watch as Jermaine (because he is not exactly that spectecular and athletic) but he is maybe better and add the fact that Pau has a much cheaper contract and is not NEARLY as injury prone as Jermaine.

Outside of shotblocking, where obviously O'neal is clearly superior, how's Pau's man defense? Is he going to be able to cover his guy, or is he going to get lit up every game, or worse yet spend all game in foul trouble like Mihm?

Schizophrenic wrote:Outside of shotblocking, where obviously O'neal is clearly superior, how's Pau's man defense? Is he going to be able to cover his guy, or is he going to get lit up every game, or worse yet spend all game in foul trouble like Mihm?

not foul prone but also not a great defender...to me he is pretty average man defender. Don´t forget Memphis had one of the best defenses in the past few years and Gasol was the anchor of that D with Battier.

This year their defense turned to be the worst in the league but that doesn´t mean Gasol has all of a sudden forgotten to defend. Its because Battier is gone, EJ is gone, they start Warrick, Miller and Chucky (all suck defensively) and they changed the coach and got a Don Nelson type of guy who doesn´t care about D.

You're comparing a guy who played the entire season at far less than 100% to a guy who came in well rested in mid-January.

Look at the prior seasons, and you'll see that overall the numbers favor O'Neal.

As far as J.O's FG%, the fact that he's played at far less than 100% the past several seasons has been a factor as has Rick Carlisle's slow, plodding system.

JO FG% Under Carlisle: 44.6
JO FG% Before Carlisle: 47.7

J.O.'s best attribute is probably his defense. He was The Defensive Player of the Year before he broke down late in the season. Not only was he the NBA's leading shot blocker, but he was amongst the top in number of charges taken, which is unheard of. Gasol, while a good shot blocker, is known as a papery-soft defender, as most Euro's are. And finally, J.O. is a better rebounder than Gasol.

Jermaine O'Neal
Offense: 83
Defense: 93
Rebounding: 86
Overall: 87.3

Pau Gasol
Offense: 84
Defense: 80
Rebounding: 80
Overall: 81.3

As my flawless system points out, O'Neal is a far more valuable commodity than Gasol. Also, you have to take into account that prior to this season, O'Neal had never missed the playoffs in his 11-year career, which was astounding. Pau Gasol, on the other hand, has never won a single playoff game.

I'd prefer JO but Gasol seems easier to get. He has a cheaper contract to work with, so maybe trading would be less difficult. Why would I prefer JO over Gaol? His superior defense of course. Gasol might be the better player on offense but JO still commands respect in the low post at the offensive end. I see him being a legit second option next to Kobe. Besides, this team when healthy was already good on offense. Our defense, however, was always a liability. JO is a great shotblocker with solid man to man defense. He should help whenever our guards get torched at the perimeter.

The Clap wrote:You're comparing a guy who played the entire season at far less than 100% to a guy who came in well rested in mid-January.

Gasol wasn't on vacation, he was rehabn'. When a player hasn't played for so long his timing is off, and his sharpness is not there and things don't click the way they should. This is the same type of thinking that probably stoped this organization from chasing Gasol When he requested a trade, Odom was on a high Gasol was at a low we could have got a steal, but people continue to under estimate Gasol, by the way he is not a losser check his national performances and if you think thats easy to achieve, go ahed and ask the three musketiers ( Wade, Lebron, Melo) why thy fail at that level?

He is better than O'neal, why?

he is 2 years younger than O'neal and has about 4 years less mileage
he shoots the ball better .538> .436. Gasol 10/18 O'neal 10/23 thats right 5 less shots. lets not even mention free throws
he passes the ball better
less injury prone (Jermaine O'neals since 00/01 has not played 80 games since his first season as a pacer , 44,51,69 in the last three seasons, that sort of stuff is not a coincidence.
more efficient
cheaper
taller, yes thats right an an inch matters especially when you've got a better wing span


He is an okay defender, O'neal is better, but his need to take so many shots when we already have Kobe, will frustrate he and Kobe, and the two of them are growing short on patience by the second.

Gasol is on the uprise
it's all going down for O'neal

He is a lower risk than O'neal, if he doesn't workout he'll be easier to trade in a year or two.